Social Disability
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DisabilityWork.pptxTheories on Disability
Work in the U.S.
Key topics include:
Economic trends from 2008 and COVID-19 recessions
Disability & employment
Disability & poverty
2008 Recession
More than 8 million workers lost their jobs
By 2017, a smaller share of the population was employed compared to before the 2008 recession
How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed this?
Between 2007 and 2017, the share of workers ages 55 and older has increased
Since the 2008 recession, U.S. jobs have been shifting more toward services
Unemployment was higher in between February to March of 2020 during COVID-19 than 2 years during the Great Recession
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Optional Video: How will the global economy ever recover from COVID?
Polarization in the Workforce
Polarization: “that a gap has developed in the job market, with most employment opportunities at the lowest and highest levels and few jobs for those with midlevel skills and education”
What has contributed to this polarization?
Outsourcing
Automation of the workplace
Higher levels of education are expected to have more expected job growth in the future
Rates of Employment
About 19% of disabled people were employed in 2019
The unemployment rate for people with a disability was at 7.3% in 2019
Unemployment rate exceeds 70% for people who are blind or visually impaired
Unemployment rate exceeds 80% for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
About 1 in 10 veterans with disabilities are unemployed
About 8 in 10 disabled people were considered “not in the labor force” in 2019
Disabled people across all age groups were more likely to be out of the labor force compared to non-disabled people
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/disabl.pdf
https://disabilitystatistics.org/
https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/publications/disability
Rates of Employment
Disabled people have higher unemployment rates compared to people without a disability
This disparity remains across all educational attainment groups
Disabled people who are employed were more likely to be self-employed compared to non-disabled people
Activity: Explore Employment Statistics by Disability
Explore the Disability Statistics website
Step 1: select the employment or income data you want to see
Recommendations: employment rate, not working but actively looking for work, annual earnings, poverty
Step 2: Select demographic information you want to know more about
Recommendation: run multiple searches and change the disability type
What do you notice about how the data varies by disability type? Do certain disabilities have higher or lower employment rates? Poverty rates?
Step 3: after you select “search” a map and data will appear under step 3
How are unemployment rates calculated?
Unemployment statistics do not count underemployment and only capture those who:
Actively looking for work
Have not earned income from a job in the past 4 weeks
Who are ready, willing, and able to work
Disability & Poverty
About 26% of disabled people lived below the poverty line in 2018
Median income for people with a disability is significantly lower than the median income for people without a disability
Background on the Poverty Line Measure
Official Poverty Measure/Threshold
Originally developed by Molly Orshansky in the 1960s
3x dollar costs of food basket in 1963
Department of Agriculture: had food plans at four cost levels (most expensive to cheapest)
Orshansky used the 2 cheaper food cost levels to create 2 poverty thresholds
Household Food Consumption Survey
1955 data: families reported that the average dollar value of all food used during a week accounted for about 1/3 of their total income after taxes
Not intended as a general measure of poverty
“There is no generally accepted standard of adequacy for essentials of living except food”
From cost of food to total income required for a family
To learn more about the development of the poverty threshold: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/1997/demo/orshansky.pdf
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Poverty
For yearly data on the poverty threshold: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html
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Poverty Threshold
Income to compute poverty status includes:
Earnings
Unemployment compensation
Workers’ compensation
Social Security
Supplemental Security Income
Public Assistance
Veterans’ Payments
Survivor benefits
Pension or retirement income
Interest
Dividends
Rents
Royalties
Income
Trusts
Educational assistance
Alimony
Child support
Assistance from outside the household
Other miscellaneous sources
Does not include:
Capital gains or losses
Non-cash benefits (food stamps, housing subsidies, etc.)
Tax credits
Remember: this changes with the size of families but not geography
People whose poverty status cannot be determined:
Institutional group quarters (prisons, nursing homes)
College dorms
Military barracks
Living situations without conventional housing (and who are not in shelters)
Programs use poverty guidelines as a basis of eligibility:
Parts of Medicaid
AIDS Drug Assistance Program
Medicare – Prescription Drug Coverage
Migrant Health Centers
Community Health Centers
Job opportunities for low income people
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Legal services for the poor
And MANY more!
For more information see: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html
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Supplemental Poverty Measure
A working group formed in 2009 to develop a supplemental poverty measure
Not designed to replace the official poverty measure
Does not determine eligibility for government programs
Intended to be an additional indicator of economic wellbeing and to give a deeper understanding of economic conditions
More about the supplemental Poverty measure: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/supplemental-poverty-measure/about.html
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Comparing Poverty Measures
Notice that in this graph the supplemental poverty measure (orange line labeled alternative poverty measure) shows that there is a higher percentage of people living in poverty in the U.S. than the line that shows the official poverty measure (blue dotted line). Notice that for some years, each measure of poverty gives very different results.
For more information: https://aspe.hhs.gov/system/files/pdf/154286/50YearTrends.pdf
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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Key topics include:
Overview of the ADA
Discrimination in the workplace
Rethinking who is best for the job
Rethinking “productivity”
What is the ADA?
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990
Designed to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability
Review the Guide to Disability Rights Law
What gaps do you see between how the ADA Title 1 on employment is written versus what you have noticed in the workplace?
Do you think this law is adequate? Why or why not?
How does the ADA define disability?
Physical or mental impairment
Substantially limits one or more major life activities
History or record of such an impairment
Person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment
Specific impairments are not named in the ADA law
What is a reasonable accommodation?
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a reasonable accommodation is “any change or adjustment to a job or work environment that permits a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, or to enjoy benefits and privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by employees without disabilities”
Examples of accommodations:
Providing or modifying equipment or devices
Part time or modified work schedules
Providing readers and interpreters
Challenges to Reasonable Accommodations
Employers are required to give a reasonable accommodation unless doing so would cause “significant difficulty or expense for the employer (‘undue hardship’)”
The definition of a reasonable accommodation is vague. What counts as “reasonable”??
Video: The ADA Turns 30 Years Old
Discrimination in the Workplace
Many professionals have prejudiced beliefs about disabled people
Prior studies find they have negative perceptions of disabled people’s productivity, social maturity, interpersonal skills, and psychological adjustment
Disability discrimination cases filed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Coalition (EEOC) made up about 1/3 of total cases (33.4%) for 2019
Many cases file charges claiming multiple types of discrimination
Retaliation cases were most commonly reported (53.8% of all cases filed)
https://www.eeoc.gov/statistics/charge-statistics-charges-filed-eeoc-fy-1997-through-fy-2019
https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-releases-fiscal-year-2019-enforcement-and-litigation-data
Video: Study Indicates Presence of Workplace Discrimination
Rethinking Who is Best for the Job
Read the article It’s Time to Rethink Who’s Best Suited for Space Travel
Reflection:
What are the author’s main arguments?
What are your reactions to this article? What stood out to you?
What strengths do people with disabilities bring to the job of space travel?
What can we learn from this example?
Rethinking “Productivity”: Crip Time
Crip Time: “is flex time not just expanded but exploded; it requires re-imagining our notions of what can and should happen in time, or recognizing how expectations of ‘how long things take’ are based on very particular minds and bodies…crip time beds the clock to meet disabled bodies and minds”
Note: The term “crip” is a historically derogatory word used against disabled people. Here the term is used by those within the disability and is being reclaimed. If you are not in the disability community, then using this term today can be offensive.
Read Srinidhi Raghavan’s article “The Value of ‘Crip Time’: Discarding Notions of Productivity and Guild, to Listen to the Rhythms of Our Bodies”
Barriers to Employment Among Women with Complex Episodic Disabilities
Key topics include:
Overview of Vick and Lightman’s article
Background & Justification of the Study
Shifts in labor markets from permanent, regular jobs to “precarious” work (nonstandard work)
What counts as precarious work?
Part time, temporary, seasonal, contract, home-based, self-employment, multiple jobs, on-call, day labor
Why does this matter?
Lower wages
Job insecurity
Poor working conditions
Lack of benefits
Background & Justification for the Study
Little research on the precarious work among people with disabilities
Women are more likely to:
Live with episodic illness
Higher rates of unemployment
More likely to experience precarious work than men with disabilities
Results of the Study
Personal Barriers
Precarious Bodies
Emotional Struggles
Structural Barriers
Institutional Misunderstanding
Employer Misunderstanding
Embodiment of Work
